Did we supporters get ahead of ourselves after scrambling over a very ordinary Carlton? Definitely. Did the 22 get ahead of themselves and take the Doggies lightly on Saturday? Can’t say, but I sincerely hope not.

I am following most games on the radio this season – the dreaded “ad after every goal” is back on Southern Cross TV, and it just breaks up the game and breaks my spirit. There are only so many times you can write to a TV station and lie that you have just decided to buy a different make of ute to punish them for their interruptions. I now have eleven imaginary utes.

So I followed the Doggies game on the radio and have since gone back to watch highlights and a few quarters on the Smart TV AFL app thing. There was a sense all day that we would break out and run over the top of them. They put a lot into pressing us hard in the first half and the radio callers kept mentioning the young Pups looked leg-weary. But we just couldn’t buy a decent forward entry.

Our tackling was dismal. Seeing Steve Morris bump a man with TACKLE ME written in neon over his head was hard to take for anyone, like me, who has the first quarter of our 2014 final burned into their brain.

I am wondering if Ben Griffiths went to the same Brain Training For The Larger Man academy as Ty Vickery. Against Carlton he took a mark 20 metres out on a fierce angle, and weighed up his two options; to play on or turn on his heel and go back for the set shot. He did not see options 3, 4 & 5, a bevy of teammates in the square calling out for the handball over the top. Not selfishness, just unmindfulness. Of course he sprayed the difficult shot. On Saturday he got his hands on it, was inaccurate but again was not awake to options around him, for the little give or the short pass to a mate on a better angle.

Trent’s hair has now strayed into self-parody or as Andy Kelly from Presentation Night has pointed out perhaps he is channeling Morrisey. Far be it from me to suggest that the author of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now is not a good model for proactive positive leadership, but maybe Trent just needs a haircut. Get a short back and sides Trent, maybe try Nº 17 again, stick your tiny nose in the air and lead those boys.

I will be there at Bellerive for the North game in round 6 and I do not want to see Trent shuffling off at the end moaning What Difference Does It Make. (Or Vickery in a tutu).

As Ty Vickery strolled to the bench a couple of spectators shouted angrily towards him: he had knocked out Dean Cox and riled the West Coast players and their fans. Cox’s elbow into Vickery’s chest, a moment before the knock-out blow, became irrelevant. Just part of the game. Vickery’s wild-swing became a headline and a reason for an apology. The swing was disingenuous: as his fist struck Cox on the point of the chin, the ball was nowhere to be seen. Ty will be taking a holiday – I’m thinking four weeks minimum. Ty’s apology will do little to placate the tribunal – and indeed it shouldn’t. Ty took Cox out of the game and could have potentially seriously injured him.

But, I’m wondering that just perhaps, the spectators’ anger was somewhat also related to the rather pedestrian nature of the game up until that point. West Coast had been subdued by the Tiges and Ty himself was playing well. Ty, so long a cause of frustration for many Tigers’ fans, had begun to show a greater assertiveness on the field. He had started to attack the ball more convincingly. I’m also thinking he is looking much stronger around the shoulders and arms. He seems to have grown into his body, so to speak. The home ground advantage had been neutralised by Richmond: for whatever reason, the Tiges like playing at Subiaco. Even some of their defeats haven’t been so ignominious. Perhaps the Eagles fans yet again sensed a disappointment.

A couple of weeks back Ty was being interviewed after he had played a solid game – perhaps kicking some three goals or so. Prior to the game, Luke Hodge had singled him out as being a potentially important and pivotal player to the Tiges success or failure that night. And, Ty showed that he was. He played well and the Tiges won. After the game, Ty laughed shyly when the interviewer mentioned that Luke Hodge – that symbol of tough stoicism – had stated his support. Ty: ‘well, I’m glad that he had faith in me’. He is aware of his status as one of Richmond’s doubted players. But, he also indicated a degree of genuine modesty that is uncommon amongst the macho bravado of footy players. I hoped that this would convey something to the fans who abuse him or shout at him during games when he doesn’t perform well or spectacularly. The game needs players who can express their sense of doubt about their talents or ability to play the game at the highest level.

I don’t know what Ty said to the spectators who abused him. The spectators did so because they knew that they could get away with it. The fans were performing to the cameras: they could have been confident that their actions would be replayed. If this was the greatest crime that they have witnessed throughout their lives, then they are lucky men. Perhaps Ty said: ‘I am wrong; I knocked out your man. I read the newspapers though. We’re all guilty. We’re all implicated in this culture of footy in which we seek by any method to win. If we can make a hard hit on a player within the rules, all the better. I deliberately hit him while pretending to be competing in a ruck contest. My fault was that it was so clumsy that it was so poorly disguised.’

And meanwhile, elsewhere, in an unending war, some thousands of civilians have been killed. And we watch a game and partake in its endless media cycle. Oh what a luxury to be angry at Ty. Oh what a luxury to see our team winning, losing, winning and losing some more. We watch and forget. Let’s just hold back on the mock indignation at the crimes of others.